


The Flow of Mana

by 2point9recurring



Category: fault (Visual Novels)
Genre: F/F, First Time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:55:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28147956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/2point9recurring/pseuds/2point9recurring
Summary: Rune has started a new life in Rughzenhaide.
Relationships: Ritona Reighnvhasta/Rune Zhevitz | Sara/Selphine Rughzenhaide
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	The Flow of Mana

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ried (riiiied)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/riiiied/gifts).



Rughzenhaide is nothing like home. Mana flows easily here. The highest grade stones that would have been entrusted to the deepest vaults back home -- the sort of stones that they had her mining for, once upon a time -- are children's playthings, if not discarded altogether.

Rughzenhaide is nothing like home. Here, she feels a sense of acceptance that she never got from her brother, or the wider population who viewed her with suspicion and mistrust even as they accepted her position within Zhevitz.

* * *

Ritona teaches her some more advanced self-defence moves.

She has been living here in Rughzenhaide for months now, training with—and being studied by, she knows, even if they're all too polite to say it—the kingdom's best manakrävaters. Since coming here, so close to the sources of mana, she has discovered that channelling it comes readily to her. Theoretical knowledge combined with an instinct born of her unique nature are now allied to growing practical experience; some of those she is working with believe she may be able to master many different forms simultaneously. Their reaction to this has ranged from excitement to something close to the fear she experienced from people back home, though in this case tempered by the knowledge that she had the blessing of their queen, and by extension the wisdom of the whole royal line going back generations approved of the project.

She has barely seen Selphine this whole time, so busy has she been with the affairs of the kingdom—rebuilding, repairing, reinforcing, forging new alliances and strengthening old ones. Ritona, on the other hand, has trained with her nearly every day, showing her more and more advanced battlekraväte techniques.

Rune watches her intently, then copies her movements flawlessly. But even as she is sweeping through a series of blocks and parries, she catches the shrewd way Ritona is looking at her: evaluating, considering.

It isn't the same way they used to look at her, back home. Ritona knows her past, but does not fear it. She trusts that Rune has mastered the bloodlust that she inherited from her organic predecessor, along with the memories.

Rune wishes that she could trust herself in the same way. And yet, she _does_ , because Ritona does. And because Selphine—who would never have allowed any of her training to take place if she thought it posed a risk to her kingdom or her subjects—does too.

"Now," Ritona says. "Fight me."

She drops into a crouch, and Rune can tell that she is ready to deploy not just her considerable fighting ability, but all the battlekrävte techniques at her disposal. There is only one counter: overwhelming her swiftly, before she has time to complete any of them.

Rune rushes her at top speed—a top speed unmatched by any human, even one as deft as Ritona—and at the maximum strength she thinks Ritona can stand. Ritona is knocked onto her back and Rune finds herself straddling her.

She feels for a moment as though the old feelings are going to take over, as she stares down at Ritona, just for a moment seemingly completely helpless beneath her. But then she realises that what she wants is to take advantage of that helplessness in another way entirely. While the confirmation that she can overcome her violent tendencies is welcome, a whole new set of uncertainties has come into play.

Ritona's breathing is coming heavily, and although Rune is not well-versed in such things, she can read the language that Ritona is speaking with her body will enough: the feelings she is having are entirely reciprocal. But all she says with her words is, "I think we should go to see Selphine soon."

* * *

And so, that very night, Rune stands at the grand doorway that leads to Selphine's chambers. She waits a moment before knocking, considering everything that has happened, has been happening ever since she came here.

It is Ritona who opens the door. Rune isn't sure what she's expecting but the reality exceeds anything she might have imagined. Selphine's suite of rooms covers a larger area than most people's houses.

And yet Selphine is still the same Selphine, giggling with delight at seeing Rune, now that there are no courtiers around.

Rune catches a look passing between Selphine and Ritona—conspiratorial, even mischievous—and wonders what it means. There is something different going on here, something she is not sure they're even fully aware of.

On their travels, they shared lodgings—even camped under the stars on some occasions—but this is something else entirely. Both in terms of the setting and the atmosphere between the three of them.

Selphine smiles. "Ritona tells me you are progressing very well with your training."

"It is most gratifying to hear that," Rune says, adopting the same formal register even though Selphine is clearly holding back a chuckle. "If it is true, it is a testament to how well she has instructed me."

Ritona does not blush easily, Rune knows, but she does at that.

"Show me," Selphine says, clapping her hands together.

They've usually trained outdoors, in the grand cobbled yard of the High Barracks, but there is more than space enough here for a demonstration of some of the forms she has been learning. The mana flows easily, around and through her.

And, she realises as it goes on, through Selphine and Ritona too. She has never felt _this_ before, even when the training has been going perfectly, and she wonders if it is something to do with that bond that she and Selphine share, both imbued with hereditary mana. Or perhaps it's something altogether different.

When she finishes, the other two approach her and embrace her, and even though it's completely new it feels completely natural. Rune is about to speak but Selphine puts a finger to her lips before drawing it down to her neck while leaning in for a kiss. At the same time, Ritona embraces both her and Selphine.

Rune has grown used to the feeling of Ritona's hand on her arms and legs as they train together, but this feels altogether different. And Selphine—Selphine's fingers are feather-light as they begin to skitter across her skin.

"It's almost as though I can feel the mana inside you," Selphine says, voice filled with something like wonder, as she finally breaks away.

"I've never—" Rune stops herself. "I mean, not with anyone else." Ritona flushes slightly, and Rune hastily adjusts her next question. "Have the two of you been…together?"

"No," Selphine says. "Though I would be lying to say that the attraction wasn't there"—Ritona definitely blushes at that—"but I think we needed something extra to make it work."

"Something…unique," Ritona adds.

Rune looks from Selphine to Ritona, then back again: the two of them are gazing at each other, even while their hands entwine behind Rune's back.

Rune understands connections, better now than she ever has before. She has always been able to sense the depth and breadth of the connection between Ritona and Selphine, in both directions, even if at times they seemed oblivious to it themselves. Ritona's unswerving loyalty to not just Selphine but the entire line she represents, Selphine's ability to let down her guard around Ritona…

But not completely. Not without Rune. She is, she understands—as they both turn to her, love shining in their eyes—the missing piece of the puzzle. And in the same way, Selphine is what was missing, this morning out on the training ground, the reason neither Rune nor Ritona felt able to continue not inexperience, Rune realises now, but the subconscious awareness of Selphine's absence.

Rune feels the mana knitting itself around them, and between them, and through them, and knows that she is right.

And, mirroring that mana connection, their bodies move together in synchronicity, lips against lips against skin, hands over hands on breasts and hips. Rune is surprised at the way that both Ritona and Selphine focus on her at first, finding herself naked at their hands while they are both at least still partially clothed, Selphine's mouth and Ritona's fingers exploring every inch of her body. Eventually, Selphine returns from her long peregrination to kiss Selphine once more, and somehow the expression of their connection morphs seamlessly into Rune and Ritona almost worshipping her, until Selphine tells them—ever so gently, but still with the expectation of their compliance that comes so naturally to her—to stop, a masterclass in self-control as Rune can tell that she is even closer to the edge than Rune herself was a few moments ago. The two of them then begin to tease Ritona, breaking through whatever remaining barriers she still subconsciously had to bring her to the same high pitch of arousal as they have already reached.

And in the end, everything blurs together, and everyone comes together, and in that moment of bliss there is still a tiny part of Rune's mind thinking that that must be the effect of the mana flow, surely?

But as she comes down, surrounded on all sides by her lovers and their love, the thought fades in the same way that they are slipping into sleep, and as she lies between them, it is replaced by another: Rughzenhaide _is_ home, now.


End file.
